15-290 / 19-211 Computers and Society

Homework 4 - due March 7, 2006

1. New technological developments often bring with them new privacy
concerns. Pick one new-technology-related privacy concern that you
believe to be particularly significant. Explain the privacy issue
and why you think it is a significant concern. What might be done to
mitigate the concern? Don't forget to cite relevant sources.

2. Pick a particular industry or type of web site and use Privacy
Finder to find two P3P-enabled web sites of that type. At each
site read both the human-readable privacy policy and the Privacy Finder
privacy report. (a) List the URLs of the two sites you selected. (b)
Describe what aspects of each privacy policy you liked and what aspects
you did not like (address both how well the sites protect privacy and
how the privacy policies are presented). (c) Compare the experience
reading the privacy policies with the experience reading the Privacy
Finder privacy report (which was easier to understand? which was
faster?
which gave you the most complete information? which gave you the kind
of information you found most useful? explain).

3. The CMU Data Privacy Lab has setup a website
where you can view public web cams. Take a look at some of these
web cams and think about their implications. Write a short essay
arguing for or against placing privacy-related restrictions on
web cams, citing relevant sources from the assigned readings or other
materials. You should consider possible restrictions on where the
cameras may be placed, whether pictures/videos are archived and for
how long, who can control where they point, if/how people are notified
that they might be photographed, whether anyone can access
pictures/videos, whether they may be used by the government for
surveillance, how much magnification (zoom) they can use, etc. You
might also consider what restrictions already exist on audio
recordings, photographing people in private places, etc.

Question 3 will be the topic of our class debate #4 on March
9. Students will be assigned to argue for or against the
statement: The State of Pennsylvania should adopt legal restrictions
on the use of web cams (those arguing for this statement should
explain the types of restrictions they advocate). Debate
assignments will be made in class on February 21.